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Timebomb: Earth In Ruins
Timebomb: Earth In Ruins is the sequel to the original series Timebomb, or simply the second series of the show which aired on Toffa between 6 January and 10 February 2018. History Development While the original series aired during June and July 2005, it was planned that 12, 30-minute episodes would be made when the series was announced early that year. However, Toffa was secretly remarkably interested in the general story and bluffed everyone by announcing that only six episodes would be made; the main excuse being that for an independent digital channel watched by a handful of people, it would cost too much to do just 12 episodes. Although this was, in fact, the case, it resulted in episodes having tiny budgets, averaging around £18,000 per episode; despite the show being co-produced between Toffa and Tiger Aspect, the latter being a bigger production company yet Toffa wanted to be safe with the budget. After the first half of episodes were complete, Toffa wanted to keep hold of the second half of the series until 2017, where both the show was set in and when it is set to return. However, Todd Carlson, who played the main character Henrick Ulkrinz felt it was best to just do the entire series at once to avoid some aging issues and extra money being used for make-up. Also, with him being 13 years old at the time of filming, it was also best that it would save time in production in case any cast or crew members in the future either died or didn’t want to take part again. As a result, the first half of the series was filmed for several weeks between March and May 2005, but to give cast and crew a break and to get the second half of the series prepared, it would be filmed in around late 2005 or early 2006 at the latest. The second half of the series began production in October 2005 and continued throughout the rest of the year. As Toffa was planning to air this in around 2017 or 2018, the budget was increased only slightly just for filming, as they plan to do the visual effects before the series goes out in over a decade. With the sequel, it would, for the most part, be set on the planet Life, home of the Timebomb civilians. In the last episode, they destroyed Henrick’s home planet Earth and tried to get him to join them where they are preparing with a war against the Letharjers, who will serve as the main antagonists and have been mentioned but not seen. Again, it would serve as a serialized show with plot and character arcs; the main two being the relationship between Timebomb, Henrick and the Letharjers. The second half of the series began production in October 2005 and continued throughout the rest of the year. As Toffa was planning to air this in around 2017 or 2018, the budget was increased only slightly just for filming, as they plan to do the visual effects before the series goes out in over a decade. Returning to the plans When it almost came for the show to return, talks began between the new Toffa chairman Riley Indigo, who took the seat in May 2017, and the show’s creators Tony Hoppings and Kevin Young to begin production again on the show; planning for it to air in early 2018. Toffa had become a surprise success by then, which led to more money being used and this gave the show a chance to visually look impressive. While Indigo admitted having not seen the series before the beginning of the discussions, he decided to watch all six episodes of Timebomb in one go, and he reviewed it as: ‘Surprisingly impressive for Toffa in the early days. Now it’s time for the story to begin again.’ Indigo, Hoppings, and Young got on well with the talks and by early June the Timebomb return was looking very likely, and just over two weeks later, on the 16th June 2017, Toffa officially announced that Timebomb would return with a spin-off. Timebomb: Earth In Ruins (the name made by Hoppings) would continue the story from where the original series left off, with Earth destroyed and the spaceship leaving it in ruins. Also, to give the show a dramatic upgrade with the visuals, the regular visual effects crew for various Toffa programmes were hired to take control, those being co-ordinator and designer. Most of the rest of the cast and crew were all part of the filming crew from 2005 so they would also be credited. All that was needed between June and the penned January 2018 broadcast date was for not only the visual effects to be made, and the film recordings to be upgraded to HD with the planned Toffa HD launch at the same time but also for the sound visuals (or music) to be made as well. This part would take the longest to do, even though it wouldn’t be heard much across the six episodes. Hired to do the music was Chris John, who had been part of the Toffa music crew since 2014 and was also working on the music for another drama to be aired in 2018: Long Gone. In December 2017, the show was confirmed to air on 6th January 2018 and for the next six Saturdays, incidentally not only would it be the first programme under the new look Toffa, but also the first programme under the new Toffa HD channel, which launched at the same time as the new look aired. Another thing that is gone from this series is that there is no narrator. Although the idea was interesting, choosing Microsoft Sam (a computerised voice) wasn’t really the best option for a sci-fi show but it was the best Toffa could do at the time. Episodes